It is with great regret that I deliver the news that the American Solidarity Party, a group that I hoped would emerge a a serious arm of resistance against the two-party duopoly and its stranglehold on American politics, has been taken over by a dedicated group of neo-integralist reactionaries that stands for a sectarian and discriminatory approach to the public square. I documented this in an earlier article, Dog-Whistle and Pony Show: Exposing Imago Dei Politics (formerly the Dorothy Day Caucus), but my warnings were not heeded by enough people to counter the recruiting this group has done among fringe groups of dominionists, theocrats, and monarchists.
It has been my honor to pour myself into the work I have undertaken in attempting to turn the ASP into a force of justice for all, and I have had an opportunity to work alongside many people who will, I hope, accompany me in the long term. I have come to the realization, however, that my vision for the American Solidarity Party was not to be. The underlying struggle in this party between those on the one hand who love justice and liberation for all people, and those on the other who are trying to regain a religious ascendancy for Christendom in the cultural sphere, is not a battle that is worth the time, effort, and sacrifice that it would take to win a decisive victory. Even then, the triumph would be pyrrhic - the ASP is an organization I do not see as being capable of escaping the baggage of its past mistakes.
I write in the waning hours of the 2018 ASP Convention, watching the IDP sweep the election of officers to the National Committee. As my term of office ends I will do everything possible to uphold my fiduciary duty to protect the larger membership of the organization from the unscrupulous cabal which is seizing the reins of the party. I will then depart, shaking off the dust of my feet.
My passion for justice and the liberation of the oppressed will move to other venues. More to come...
